More unfinished projects are completed

It has been an eventful but unproductive few months for this woodworker. February included a trip to Key West for a week at the beautiful Heron House on Simonton Street. Right outside our room was a beautiful rain garden. We had a relaxing week although Mary Lou continued to have some intestinal problems which didn't seem to respond to treatment.

After our return to Ohio Mary Lou ended up in the hospital and had surgery. We have been consumed with dealing with the impact of this surgery and the changes in our lives for the next few months.

Anyway, we began going back to the lake house a few weeks ago and I had the time and energy to complete a few of the unfinished projects I had hanging. I applied spray finish to three Tic-Tac-Toe game boards and to the bodies of two potpourri holders. The tops of the potpourri holders are plywood with a scroll sawn design that was spray painted with a copper finish paint. The tops look rather subdued and more attractive than the plain birch plywood would have looked with a clear finish. The sides are walnut with an arched base to create the illusion of feet at the corners.

The Tic-Tac-Toe boards are also walnut. I used the Rockler bit to make the depressions for the marbles and a stencil kit from Rockler to make the grid lines on the top. I used black pain to accentuate the grid lines and then again used the Helmsman spray finish. Three of the boards are walnut and one is maple.

I intend to package all of these projects to be give-aways to visitors and friends.

I also took a lathe tool sharpening class at Woodcraft. I learned a lot of new things to do and several old techniques to change. I bought the correct wheel for my slow speed grinder so I now have two different grit wheels to use with my Wolverine Sharpening System. I built a new base for the grinder and now have a convenient and thorough system to keep my tools sharp as a turn.

Finally, I signed up for an Elderhostel week at Ripley WV, Cedar Lake Conference Center, in August. It will be a full week of turning classes. I have never taken such an extensive class so I am interested to find out what it will be like.

Logs to Bowls - Woodcraft class

I attended the "Logs to Bowls" class yesterday at the Bedford Heights, Ohio, Woodcraft store. It was taught by Harry Robinette, a store employee and accomplished wood turner. Six students spent the morning learning the processing of logs into good turning stock for bowls and vases. After lunch we each were given a section of freshly cut cherry to turn into a bowl. It was my first such green wood experience and a good training session in the use of a finger nail bowl gouge. Four hours just flew by and we had to hurry to actually get a finish on the bowls by 5:30 when it was time to leave.

I had an excellent time and produced an "almost excellent" bowl. I had done an really good job on the outside of the bowl and put it into the chuck to clear the inside. I had actually made good progress in establishing the wall of the bowl and getting the depth close to the finished bottom when disaster struck - two deep gouges that were too deep to turn out. So, if you look closely at the left interior side of the bowl you can see one of the two "decorative accents" that I added!
I learned a lot to improve how I turn in general, how I apply finish, and how to use the bowl gouge. I am now anxious to get to some of the bowl blanks I have sitting in my shop.

OT - My Lucky Day

Apparently, yesterday was my lucky day. I was at home to allow the cable company to change my modem and add phone service to my cable service. As an incentive for customers to bundle cable, Internet, and phone services, our cable company was having a contest. The customer received a scratch-off card which gave them a discount off their cable bill. There were several hundred $25 cards but only one $1000, two $500's, and two $400. I don't know who was more amazed at our winning $400, Mary Lou or myself. But we will be getting free cable-Internet-phone service for about the next four months!

That was only the beginning of my lucky day. I went from winning a $400 credit to passing a big test.

Since I retired I have been wanting to find some volunteer work that gave me a chance to give back to my community but that didn't get me involved in situations similar to my past career. I applied for and completed the course to become a Tax Aide for the AARP Foundation program which provides free tax help to people. (Last year over 32,000 volunteers helped over 2,000,000 customers nationwide) In order to actually become certified to do this work, I needed to attend training and pass a certification exam. Today, I handed in my exam answer sheet and found out I had passed the basic, intermediate and advanced sections of the test. I received a long sleeve denim shirt with the AARP Foundation Tax Aide logo on it. That will be my Tax Aide "uniform" when I actually start my volunteer work on Monday, February 4.

What a lucky day.

Tic-tac-toe and Last Man Games

One of my older, half done projects was a group of games and puzzles. I had made several "Cube in a cube" puzzles from American Woodworker magazine, September 2007. They were completed and ready to be given as gifts.

I also had several items from Rockler to make "Tic-tac-toe" and "Last Man" games using marbles. I had templates to guide a drill bit to drill the depressions for the marbles for each game as well as templates to add the lines.

As I used the drill bit I felt the depressions became less clean. By the time I got to making two Last Man games on pieces of cherry, the depressions were really looking sloppy. I was disappointed in the quality of the bit.

Instead of using a pencil to mark the lines for Tic-tac-toe using the Rockler template, I routed a small groove in the wood, painted it black, and sanded the edges for a clean line. The three Tic-tac-toe boards that I did in walnut looked the best of all the games.

I would have to say I was generally disappointed with the Rockler projects. The appearance of the finished project truly depends upon the quality of the depressions made by the Rockler bit and, in this project, those depressions went from just OK to poor. At a cost of $20 for the bit and $32.00 for the drilling and drawing templates, it is a real disappointment.

Move 'em on out!

We have had several days of beautiful weather - warm temperatures, blue skies, and light breezes. What doesn't fit with that description? We are talking about early January in northern Ohio where cold temperatures, grey, cloudy skies, and frigid winds are the norm.

But I was lucky enough to be able to spend those days in my wood shop. Since my shop is in a garage with inadequate heat, this weekend was a golden invitation to be comfortable while get moving on some projects.

I installed three rebuilt pegboard panels - two over my work bench and one beside my bandsaw. With those installed I was able to rehang all the tools that had covered my workbench.

I have two sets of goals this year in my workshop. One is to clear away a lot of old, half-done projects or pieces and parts from previous projects that I was keeping around to use up the extra supplies. The other goal is to complete a list of brand new projects of furniture, shop jigs, lathe projects, and gifts. Today's efforts were all to clear out some of the old projects.

By coincidence I was looking through this list of old projects this morning and coming to two conclusions. First, I was listing some projects that I realized I really did not want to do anymore. They were probably old and half-done because I did not like the project and it would really not be fun even if I finished it. So, my first conclusion was just drop that project. If I am doing this for fun why am I holding onto projects that obviously were not fun to do?

Also, there were projects that just seemed to mushroom from one or two to six to eight because I had the spare parts. I had completed a few in the past but still had enough supplies to make a few more. This kept mushrooming and I was beginning to feel I would never get the project done. For these I just set an arbitrary number and decided when I hit that number I was going to stop no matter what supplies were left.

Those two decisions seemed to liberate me. I was no longer anticipating having to work on projects I really didn't enjoy and I was seeing an end to what was beginning to feel like a production job. With that done I really moved to the remaining items and started having some fun on a warm day in January.

OT - New Year's Resolutions - Books

I recently published my list of wood working projects I wanted to complete during 2008. That was only one of several resolutions that I made and shared with my wife. One of those additional goals was to read at least 36 books during 2008.

I learned this year that reading is one of those things I do easily when I am in a good frame of mine. It is also one of those activities I abandon quickly when I get depressed or overly anxious. Over the last 3 years I have kept a list of the books I have read. My best year was 35 books in 2006. This past year was about 10 less - and a good barometer for a stress-filled year.

Additionally I have watched as my son, Eric, set and achieved a goal of 52 books during 2007. As of the last night of 2007 he was working on the 52nd book! I hope he reports today that he made it.

Anyway, my goal for 2008 is to read at least 36 books. One better than my previous best. I am starting this year with City Adrift . It is a compilation of journalists' investigative reports on various aspects of Hurrican Katrina's impact upon New Orleans.

I have several best seller books on reserve at the library and a couple 2007 left overs on my bookshelf to get me started.

Wine Bottle Stoppers

I took a class on making wine bottle stoppers this last fall at the Cleveland Woodcraft store. Of course, Woodcraft sells the kits to make the stoppers.
The kits include the mandrel to hold the wood for turning, a drill bit to create the hole to attach the wood to the bottom, and four of the metal lower sections, and the plastic washers to seal the bottle. The metal stoppers offer the advantage that they will not pick up the taste or odor from other wines. You furnish the wood and turn it to whatever shape to become the top, decorative part of the stopper.
The class was helpful with several hints to improve the chances of successfully turning the decorative wood top. The kit is set up for you to drill a hole in the wood, thread the wood onto the mandrel and then turn the wood. Once done, unscrew the turned top from the mandrel and thread onto the metal post of the stopper bottom.
The class suggested drilling the wood blank to accept a 1/4"x20 threaded, brass insert and using CA glue to assure the bond between the insert and wood. This eliminates the chance that a "catch" while turning would strip the threads in the wood and make it difficult to finish turning or to attach the top to the threaded lower section. That suggestion alone was worth the trip to Cleveland and the cost of the class.
I was disappointed, however, when I left the class to buy the kit. They were out of the kits. I actually ended up buying the kit in Columbus when I was visiting there a week or so later.
I have had mixed outcomes mostly because I used some push-in brass inserts instead of the threaded inserts. The deal I got on the push-ins was totally wiped out by the wasted wood when the inserts broke loose and spun in the wood (but refused to dislodge completed!). The stopper on the left is cherry while the one on the left is bubinga. This is one of my 2007 "Unfinished Projects." One down, a lengthy list to go.
Our only problem with the wine bottle stoppers is that we almost always finish a bottle once it is opened - so why do we need one of these stoppers?